Transfer Centre

Gareth Bale 'refusing to leave Real Madrid'

By Barney Corkhill, Editor | 11 August 2020

Real Madrid winger Gareth Bale is reportedly prepared to not play another game for two years in order to see out his contract at the club, rather than leave this summer.

Gareth Bale is reportedly ready to see out the remainder of his Real Madrid contract even if he does not play another game for the club.

The 31-year-old has endured an increasingly fractious relationship with the club and manager Zinedine Zidane in recent times, and that plunged to new depths last week when he was left out of the travelling squad to face Manchester City in the Champions League.

Zidane publicly confirmed that Bale had refused to travel after being told that he was unlikely to play in the last 16 second leg, which Man City won to secure a 4-2 aggregate victory.

Bale is understood to be at the very top of Madrid's list of players to offload this summer due to his mammoth £600,000-a-week wages, although that is also proving to be the main stumbling block in negotiations for any interested parties.

The Mirror reports that the Wales international also has no intention of leaving Madrid early as he is settled in the Spanish capital with his family.

The report claims that Bale is willing to wait until his contract expires in 2022 for his next club match if necessary, having been told that he does not feature in Zidane's plans at the Bernabeu.

Despite the acrimonious relationship between Bale and Madrid, the former Tottenham Hotspur winger has now won 13 trophies during his time at the club, including four Champions Leagues and two La Liga titles.